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Saturday, May 17, 2014

finished clay projects...

clay dinnerware project for spring 2014
Well, I was absent from class the last week of this semester. Had a combination of the stomach flu and then some problems with my right leg... (that part is still going on).  But since I wasn't there when presentations were made, I went last Friday to empty my locker and shelf. My instructor was there and she told me to "set up my display in the studio" and she would put it in the gallery later.  So this is it.

The project was to create a dinnerware set using a semi-famous person (I was assigned Frances Glessner Lee) as a guest. She was a millionaire heiress who lived in the 1800's and while an avid reader of Sherlock Holmes, she was very interested in forensic medicine. She and a good friend, a Dr. Magrath, were known to play a big part in replacing coroners with medical examiners. She also created dioramas of crime scenes which were so well done and explicit that the police dept used them to help their investigators learn how to collect evidence. These were called "The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death". She was also known to be the inspiration for Jessica Fletcher in the series "Murder She Wrote".

My theme was Death, Crime, and Medicine. It's difficult to see here, but the colors are black, grey, and red.  The plates, bowls, and cups were thrown, underglazed with black and grey, and then fired with a clear glaze.The book sculpture was made with slabs, underglazed, and then washed with a Blackbird stain to get the antiqued look... and then fired. My original plan was to use dinnerware that was black and grey but had a red gunsight on it with a human target in the center. However, when fired, the colors were not to my liking, so I went with the Sherlock Holmes profile. I had also found a website that sold crime scene fabric and had picked out some that had blood splatter and crime scene tape (to use as a tablecloth)... but had to cancel the order when I found out they could not deliver on time...


close up of the book sculpture

Unfortunately I was not there to see the finished projects of my classmates. However, I do hope they will remain in the art gallery long enough so that I will be able to return during the summer session and take some pictures.  If so, I will post them on my website.  Some of them I think were extremely well done.

Now... on a more somber note: Have any of you had a problem with your leg that involved intermittent pain that runs from the thigh down to the knee? My right leg has bothered me for several weeks, but it has gotten increasingly more debilitating. Some nights I could barely sleep for the throbbing. I also found it difficult to raise it... and found myself using my hands to move my leg from the accelerator to the brake while driving. I have tried sleeping on the sofa with my legs under pillows, then sleeping in a lounge chair. Neither worked very well. My first thought was sciatica.... which I've had before.... but the pain was not intermittent like this. One minute it's gone, and the next it's back. My next thought is perhaps I've done something to a vertebrae and that's affecting my leg. Actually when I started to feel the same pain in my left leg this past Monday, I called my Oncologist and asked his nurse what she thought I should do. She's got me scheduled for a full body bone scan this coming Wednesday.  I guess that will tell us something. But if anyone has any ideas, I'd appreciate hearing them.

And now for some GOOD NEWS:  Our box turtles are out again! They usually start showing up in May, but it's always fun to see them out. This one has shown up several times now... usually going after the dry catfood.






And Sam was also in the yard when I was taking pics of the box turtle.  He's one of our *regulars*... semi-feral, intact male that probably roams the entire residential neighborhood, gets in fights from the looks of his wounds, but always returns and in general doesn't cause any problems in our yard. He has really pretty blue eyes.


Sam







16 comments:

  1. I like your dinnerware, Rian, especially the mug. Gorgeous. I would have thought they were greenish/blue and black from the photos. Geesh, you are so talented. I love turtles; have since I was a child. And Sam is spectacular. The colouring is really unique. I would guess he has some Asian in him. He is a 'chocolate' cat. :)

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    1. Sam looks like a Chocolate Siamese... or has some in him... and I love his blue eyes.

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  2. So was your class a pottery class or decorating class? Either way it looks like it was fun.
    I've been having leg/foot nerve problems for the last year or so, and it is my experience that nerve pain can be very intermittent. I have neuropathy in my left foot and get shooting pains in my ankle when I stand for too long. As we age the vertebrae degenerate and so can cause all sorts of lovely problems. Did you have cancer at one time and that's why you're seeing an oncologist?

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    1. It's Advanced Ceramics... a part of the Art Curriculum, but of course I'm neither advanced nor an art student. It's open to the Senior Community... over 65 can take 6 hrs of credit courses free. So since I've never worked with clay, I gave it a go... and liked it. The projects sometimes dominate your time, but it's almost always a learning experience.
      And yes, I was treated for BC 14 years ago... and our family history pretty much covers the range of other types... so my Oncologist keeps a close watch.

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  3. I have problems with my left knee that sometimes radiates pain down the outside of my leg, but it isn't at all debilitating, just painful. I hope you can find out what's causing it. Sounds downright scary to me. Love your dinnerware, BTW. I do hope to see some of the others, but yours is great, if you ask me! :-)

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    1. Thanks, DJan. I'm learning to throw on the wheel, but it's a slow process. Mostly takes *practice* and since I don't have either a pottery wheel or kiln at home, I can only practice at the studio. The sculpture part is fun and comes a bit more easily for me. But I am determined to "conquer" the wheel...
      As for my leg... it's got me baffled.

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  4. My first thought was that you had sciatica but I'm glad to hear you are having it checked out, just hoping it's nothing too bad.
    Your pottery display is very impressive, I thought that you had used real books as your centrepiece and your dinnerware is very attractive.
    Sam is rather gorgeous isn't he?

    Diana

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    1. My first thought was sciatica also... but is this ever intermittent?
      The books in my centerpiece did come out pretty well. They were medical and mystery books to enhance the Death, Crime, and Medical theme. I had thought of building clay dioramas of crime scenes (as Frances Glessner Lee did), but being practical, couldn't think of what I would do with it afterwards... while a sculpture of a stack of books would fit right in at my house.
      And yes, Sam is an attractive fellow... but he is getting on in years.

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  5. I think you're very talented -- your dinnerware and presentation look terrific.

    I've been having ongoing back, hip, thigh pain for a long time, but it's been especially bad this winter and now into the spring. I'm going to have to call the doctor and see if he or she (the resident of the month) can recommend physio or chiropractic or something else.

    Could you have greater trochanetric syndrome? Formerly called bursitis:

    http://www.patient.co.uk/health/greater-trochanteric-pain-syndrome

    It certainly describes my symptoms, though there might be more than this going on for me.

    Good luck, healing purrs from Nicki and Derry!

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    1. Kim, I've never heard of the syndrome you described... (I have heard of bursitis), but will check out the site you mentioned. Thanks.
      My son mentioned going to a chiropractor, and I know that yoga, stretching exercises, etc. are good... but not if it's a vertebrae prob. So we'll do the bone scan thing Wed and then go from there. Hopefully it IS something as simple (altho painful) as sciatica and will just take time to heal.

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  6. I like your table setting. I think the Holmes silhouette is more appealing than a human target! Gives it a more studied effect. I hope you are able to solve the mystery of your leg pain.

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    1. Yes, the Holmes silhouette was more studious and less *gory* (for lack of a better word). However, I was given suggestions of covering the plate with blood splatter or bloody fingerprints... but these were even less appealing. I tend towards the practical or functional... and I thought that I wouldn't want to eat off something too gory. But again... the project didn't have to be functional. Some of the others are strictly decorative.
      As for my leg, I'm it will sort itself out - hopefully soon.

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  7. Lovely and interesting place setting. I really should consider pottery making. I wonder how many years I would have to work to make a flat plate?

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    1. Actually, Tabor, the flat plates are easier than cups and cylinders...

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  8. wow your display is wonderful and so realistic,congratulations on your display, hope your leg mends, and of course I love those turtles.

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    1. The books came out pretty much what I planned (surprise! surprise!). But the plates didn't underglaze as planned. I did 2 coats of white (originally going with B & W), then did 2 coats of grey (when I changed color scheme). But grey actually looked a little streaked when fired (not badly, but still...) I was thinking of re-glazing and re-firing, but I've never done that before. We'll see...

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